I am supporting the standard 8 month school year rather than the 12 month school year, which has been debated about recently. There are many reasons, both economically and socially, why summer vacation is important.

I will allow my opponent to begin the debate with facts and opinions on why the school year should go on for the whole year.

Schools should be kept going all year long. First of all, they would have short breaks in between so it isn't like school would be going 5 days a week January through December. It is a proven fact that students forget more of what they learned over summer vacation than any other break they get from school. A lot of what is taught within the first month of two of school is material that was taught the previous year, just the students had to be re-taught because they forgot. And other than the students who have to do homework over summer break because the are in an Advanced Placement program, what student would actually go over the material they learned during their break away from work? If schools were kept in session 12 months a year, they wouldn't have to be re-taught half of the material and the teachers would be able to focus their attention on moving forward with the learning material. That brings me to my second argument.

The teachers would be kept at their jobs longer which would give them an increase of money in their pay checks. Let's face it, teachers don't make a lot of money, so the year-round schooling would benefit them as well. Also, how many students go through their summer vacations getting drunk, high, or doing other things they shouldn't be doing? As long as they are kept in school, they have a higher chance of not getting into stuff they shouldn't for the simple reason that they have something to do constantly. Year-round schooling would also help the families.

I say this because the families of the students would be able to take more mini vacations through out the year instead of one big vacation. Which brings me back to helping to keep kids off drugs and alcohol. If they are able to spend more time with their families through out the year, they will more likely than not be drug free because their family will be keeping a somewhat closer eye on them. One last thing I would like to point out is the fact that schools staying in session all year long would benefit the parents, as well as the students and the teachers as I mentioned above. This would help the parents because they would not have to pay for child care near as much, which in turn would enable them to save more money for family get togethers such as mini vacations, going out to dinner, or just simply having a family night. This could also help them save more money for gas, house bills and the grocery bills, since everything is going up in price.

So, in conclusion, I think schools should stay in session all year long, as they can very highly benefit the students, as well as the teachers and the parents.

As i stated in round 1, I am basically saying that the school system should stay the same. I don't want anyone to think that it is necessary to come out with an idea of giving the students a huge break of 2 months somewhere randomly in the year.

The fact that the students would need a month to get back into the "learning mode" hasn't really effected or troubled anyone. If it was a problem, we would have solved it by now. The grade system is all measured out to be balanced on how much time you spend on a certain subject. For example, a 7th grade math teacher may start the first lesson in the 8th grade course as their last 7th grade lesson. This stuff is all planned out. The faculty and staff of schools work together to plan out an appropriate way to teach.

You say: "It is a proven fact that students forget more of what they learned over summer vacation than any other break they get from school".

Next, you mention how our teachers would be making more money, due to the fact that they would be in session longer. Well, let me ask you this... Where do you suppose that money is coming from? It's coming out of the American people's wallet. The point I'm trying to make, is that taxes would SKY ROCKET due to this. Teachers would make about 25% more money than they would in an 8 month school year. With the economy how it is today, taxes are the last thing that need to go up.

Your next argument about getting into trouble: First off, I totally agree with you that teens do tend to get themselves into a bit of trouble over the summer, but school is NOT the only thing to occupy their time. There are all sorts of camps and programs that help keep people out of trouble such as "The Boys and Girls Club". I'm sure a bunch of buddies would much rather be shooting pool and playing basketball with their friends than at school.

Once again, I am FOR the standard school system that most of us are in today. That means no vacations longer than the usual (2 weeks for Christmas, 1 week for Presidents Week, 2 weeks for Easter, etc.). I also put in ( ) "Getting rid of summer vacation". So there can be no lengthening of any other vacations within the school year. And once again I am reminding you when you say that the parents would save money on child care, which would save them more money. You will be paying 25% more for schooling which will definitely make you lose money.

Another huge thing that would hurt the economy would be a lack of tourism in popular vacation spots. If kids were in school, the hotels would basically make no money if the majority of their customers are families. Also, airlines would lose airfare which would hurt the economy badly.

In conclusion, with all the other headaches the United States is dealing with now, changing the school system is NOT in our best interest.

I would like to start out by saying the I was kind of confused by your statement, "I don't want anyone to think that it is necessary to come out with an idea of giving the students a huge break of 2 months somewhere randomly in the year." That is what summer vacation is, is a 2 month break from school. The way you stated that makes me believe that you are saying that you do not agree with summer vacation, therefore you would actually agree with having school all year long. So if you could please clarify that, I would greatly appreciate it.

As for students forgetting what they learned over summer vacation, here is the evidence. It was posted February 19, 2010 by a guy named Ryan Normandin, who is a journalist for, The Tech, a newspaper that focuses on student life. http://tech.mit.edu...
In the third paragraph, it states, "Research has shown students retain only five percent of what they learn in lecture, making it one of the least efficient ways of teaching. Over the summer, students forget so much information that teachers are forced to spend valuable time reviewing old material. The fact that our model of public education has not undergone significant change in 200 years is a major factor in the decline of American education. It is time to turn that around. There are three areas that we must examine: the school year, what is taught, and how it is taught."
The entire fifth paragraph states, "The benefits will be numerous. First, students will be in school more often, giving them time to both learn material in-depth and to be creative in doing things they enjoy. It will eliminate, for the most part, any significant time lost on reviewing forgotten material."

The average teacher's salary goes from $40,447-$44,175. http://www.payscale.com...
Yes, teachers do get paid out of taxpayer's money. But I have done a little research and have come up with the following, and as well have included links to how I got all my information.
~ http://www.cnpp.usda.gov...
As of January of 2010, the lowest average grocery bill for a family of 2 between 19 and 50 years old would be $80.80 per week which would round out to $3,818.40 a year. The highest for that same family would be $350.40 per week rounding out to $4,203.60 for the whole year. The lowest grocery bill for a family of 4, which includes a couple 19-50 years old with 2 children 2-5 years old is $117.70 per week, or $5,649.60 per year. That same family could also have the highest grocery bill of $135.10 per week, or $6,121.20 per year. That is just the lowest amount of money the average family spent in January of 2010 for each of the categories I named off. The graph I included will show everything else in more detail and depth.
~http://www.articleclick.com...
A study done in this year of 2010 has shown that the average amount of money spent on gas per year is approximately $14,400. That may not be the case with everyone, but that is the average spent per year
~http://www.babycenter.com...
This chart shows that the lowest average child care will cost about $316-$1,221 a month, or $3,792-$14,652 a year for a day care, and $2,167-$3,033 a month, or $26,004-$36,396 a year for a nanny.

Now I have added it up, and the lowest cost of grocery bills, gas, and child care for one year will be about $22,070.40, while the highest will be about $56,917.20. Now if we were to take out the child care, since the children would be in school that would save families approximately $36,396 a year. Going on what my opponent stated that "teachers would make about 25% more money," that would mean that the teachers would be making about $10,111.75-$11,043.75 more. That would still leave the families with between $25,352.25 and $26,284.25 of extra money.

Now granted, during the summer kids have camps and things like that they may attend in order to stay out of trouble, but how many of them would actually WANT to go to stuff like that, in which many of them may see as "childish?" If they were doing something that they didn't really have a choice to do, they would be more likely to stay away from thing that could harm them.

And finally, as for the "lack of tourism in popular vacation spots" my opponent says "would hurt the economy," I bring back my first proof. http://tech.mit.edu...
The entire seventh and eighth paragraphs state it all.

I firmly believe that with all my links provided and everything I have stated, it IS in our best interest to have school all year long.

Would you accept a pro 12 month position that treated high school like college in the way of spring break, a few weeks in the summer, fall break and Christmas break? If not, I don't want to hijack your debate and present an issue you don't wish to discuss.

Pro could maybe run some type of plan, saying we would get rid of summer vacation but add in three month-long breaks at different times during the year (which had been proposed by many schools), or something like that.